California Civic Innovation Project

The California Civic Innovation Project promotes innovations in technology, policy and practice that deepen engagement between government and communities throughout the state. Through research and information-sharing, CCIP builds communities of practice within California’s local governments and identifies best practices to improving service delivery, opening new channels for public voices, and bridging the state’s digital divides.

The intersection of technology, policy and civic engagement is increasingly central to making local governments work for everyone. There are information and innovation gaps between municipalities throughout the state, and a goal of CCIP is to bridge those gaps through researching existing knowledge sharing networks and identifying methods for strengthening those networks and making them better conduits for innovation.

Through the work of pilot projects in California cities, CCIP is testing various partnership models and innovation processes. Each partnership functions as a mico-culture that fosters innovation within local governments, while providing additional resources and community inclusion. Over time, the learnings from the pilot projects will be shared and scaled to cities throughout California.

When developing standards and best practices for government innovation, CCIP and its working groups place special emphasis on open-source, needs-driven and inclusive approaches to civic engagement.

CCIP was launched in the Spring of 2012 with support from the James Irvine Foundation, and is directed by Alissa Black.